Polio cases surge in Afghanistan
Pastor Dale Morgan
Polio cases surge in Afghanistan*
Sunday, August 13, 2006 Posted: 0406 GMT (1206 HKT)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The number of polio cases in Afghanistan has
quadrupled this year, almost entirely in southern provinces shaken by
the country's worst fighting in almost five years, officials said Saturday.
Afghanistan has suffered 24 cases so far in 2006, compared to nine cases
during the whole of 2005, said Dr. Shukrullah Wahidi, an official with
the Ministry of Public Health who oversees the polio program. All cases
except one were in the south, he said.
Wahidi blamed the spike in polio cases on the increasing violence,
unregulated travel across the border with Pakistan where polio is also a
problem, difficulty in establishing local health services and poor
communication with community leaders.
Insurgent violence erupted across the south this spring, killing more
than 900 people. Eleven NATO troops have died there since the alliance
took charge of security this month.
Dr. Hemlal Sharma, a UNICEF official in charge of the polio program,
said the spike in cases this year directly stemmed from children not
receiving vaccinations in late 2005 and 2006.
The virus invades the nervous system, can cause permanent paralysis
within hours, and can be fatal.
About 1,880 people were sickened by polio worldwide last year, down from
more than 350,000 before 1988, when WHO launched a global anti-polio
campaign, according to the agency.